The Federalist Papers

Originally published anonymously, The Federalist Papers first appeared in 1787 as a series of letters to New York newspapers exhorting voters to ratify the proposed Constitution of the United States. Still hotly debated and open to often controversial interpretations, the arguments first presented here by three of America's greatest patriots and political theorists were created during a critical moment in our nation's history.

The Wealth of Nations

The foundation for all modern economic thought and political economy, The Wealth of Nations is the magnum opus of Scottish economist Adam Smith, who introduces the world to the very idea of economics and capitalism in the modern sense of the words.

The Vanishing American Adult: Our Coming-of-Age Crisis - and How to Rebuild a Culture of Self-Reliance

In The Vanishing American Adult, Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse diagnoses the causes of a generation that can't grow up and offers a path for raising children to become active and engaged citizens. He identifies core formative experiences that all young people should pursue - hard work to appreciate the benefits of labor, travel to understand deprivation and want, the power of reading, the importance of nurturing your body - and explains how parents can encourage them.

The Art of the Argument: Western Civilization's Last Stand

The Art of the Argument shocks the dying art of rational debate back to life, giving you the essential tools you need to fight the escalating sophistry, falsehoods, and vicious personal attacks that have displaced intelligent conversations throughout the world. At a time when we need reasonable and empirical discussions more desperately than ever, The Art of the Argument smashes through the brain-eating fogs of sophistry and mental manipulation, illuminating a path to benevolent power for all who wish to take it.

The Great Ideas of Philosophy, 2nd Edition

Grasp the important ideas that have served as the backbone of philosophy across the ages with this extraordinary 60-lecture series. This is your opportunity to explore the enormous range of philosophical perspectives and ponder the most important and enduring of human questions-without spending your life poring over dense philosophical texts.

Two Treatises of Government

Often considered the foundation of political liberalism, John Locke's Two Treatises of Government was first published anonymously in 1689, in the wake of England's Glorious Revolution. In The First Treatise of Government, Locke refutes the idea of divine monarchy, while The Second Treatise of Government articulates Locke's philosophy of government, which he based upon his theories of natural rights and the social contract.

Reflections on the Revolution in France

This famous treatise began as a letter to a young French friend who asked Edmund Burke’s opinion on whether France’s new ruling class would succeed in creating a better order. Doubtless the friend expected a favorable reply, but Burke was suspicious of certain tendencies of the Revolution from the start and perceived that the revolutionaries were actually subverting the true "social order". Blending history with principle and graceful imagery with profound practical maxims, this book is one of the most influential political treatises in the history of the world.

Leviathan: or The Matter, Form, and Power of a Commonwealth, Ecclesiastical and Civil

The leviathan is the vast unity of the State. But how are unity, peace, and security to be attained? Hobbes’ answer is sovereignty, but the resurgence of interest today in Leviathan is due less to its answers than its methods: Hobbes sees politics as a science capable of the same axiomatic approach as geometry.

The Spirit of the Laws

Originally published in 1748, this is possibly the most masterful and influential book ever written on the subject of liberty and justice. Accordingly, it is a work that profoundly influenced America’s Founding Fathers. Its success was due partly to the fact that it was the first systematic treatise on politics, partly to Montesquieu’s championship of the nobility and the Parlements, but above all, to the brilliant style of his prose.

Amazon Customer says:"I doubt I can finish listening to this narrator."

Human Action: A Treatise on Economics

Human Action is the most important book on political economy you will ever own. It was (and remains) the most comprehensive, systematic, forthright, and powerful defense of the economics of liberty ever written. This is the Scholar's Edition: accept no substitute. You will treasure this volume. The Scholar's Edition is the original, unaltered treatise (originally published in 1949) that shaped a generation of Austrians and made possible the intellectual movement that is leading the global charge for free markets.

The Law

How is it that the law enforcer itself does not have to keep the law? How is it that the law permits the state to lawfully engage in actions which, if undertaken by individuals, would land them in jail? These are among the most intriguing issues in political and economic philosophy. More specifically, the problem of law that itself violates law is an insurmountable conundrum of all statist philosophies. The problem has never been discussed so profoundly and passionately as in this essay by Frederic Bastiat from 1850.

The Conservative Mind: From Burke to Eliot

Kirk defines "the conservative mind" by examining such brilliant men as Edmund Burke, James Fenimore Cooper, Alexis de Tocqueville, John Quincy Adams, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Benjamin Disraeli, Cardinal Newman, George Santayana, and finally, T.S. Eliot. Vigorously written, the book represents conservatism as an ideology born of sound intellectual traditions.

Rediscovering Americanism: And the Tyranny of Progressivism

In Rediscovering Americanism, Mark R. Levin revisits the founders' warnings about the perils of overreach by the federal government and concludes that the men who created our country would be outraged and disappointed to see where we've ended up. Levin returns to the impassioned question he's explored in each of his best-selling books: How do we save our exceptional country? Because our values are in such a precarious state, he argues that a restoration to the essential truths on which our country was founded has never been more urgent.

The Closing of the American Mind

In one of the most important books of our time, Allan Bloom, a professor of social thought at the University of Chicago and a noted translator of Plato and Rousseau, argues that the social and political crisis of 20th-century America is really an intellectual crisis.

The Federalist Papers

Written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, The Federalist Papers have long been considered to be some of the most important works in political science ever written. The Federalist Papers establishes a method of constitutional government that was the building block for the type of government the United States has operated under for over 200 years.

On the Social Contract

On the Social Contract's appeal and influence has been wide-ranging and continuous. It has been called an encomium to democracy and, at the same time, a blueprint for totalitarianism. Individualists, collectivists, anarchists, and socialists have all taken courage from Rousseau's controversial masterpiece.

American democracy was never supposed to give the nation a president like Donald Trump. We have never had a president who gave rise to such widespread alarm about his lack of commitment to the institutions of self-government, to the norms democracy requires, and to the need for basic knowledge about how government works. We have never had a president who raises profound questions about his basic competence and his psychological capacity to take on the most challenging political office in the world.

Free to Choose: A Personal Statement

Milton Friedman and his wife, Rose, teamed up to write this most convincing and readable guide, which illustrates the crucial link between Adam Smith's capitalism and the free society. They show how freedom has been eroded and prosperity undermined through the rapid growth of governmental agencies, laws, and regulations.

The Communist Manifesto

‘It was a sweet finish after the bitter pills of floggings and bullets with which these same governments, just at that time, dosed the German working-class risings’. The Communist Manifesto is, perhaps surprisingly, a most engaging and accessible work, containing even the odd shaft of humour in this translation by Samuel Moore for the 1888 English edition.

A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles

In this book, which the author calls a "culmination of 30 years of work in the history of ideas", Sowell attempts to explain the ideological difference between liberals and conservatives as a disagreement over the moral potential inherent in nature. Those who see that potential as limited prefer to constrain governmental authority, he argues. They feel that reform is difficult and often dangerous, and put their faith in family, custom, law, and traditional institutions.

The Peloponnesian War

Historians universally agree that Thucydides was the greatest historian who has ever lived, and that his story of the Peloponnesian conflict is a marvel of forensic science and fine literature. That such a triumph of intellectual accomplishment was created at the end of the fifth century B.C. in Greece is, perhaps, not so surprising, given the number of original geniuses we find in that period. But that such an historical work would also be simultaneously acknowledged as a work of great literature and a penetrating ethical evaluation of humanity is one of the miracles of ancient history.

Gorbachev: His Life and Times

When Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union in 1985, the USSR was one of the world's two superpowers. By 1989, his liberal policies of perestroika and glasnost had permanently transformed Soviet Communism and had made enemies of radicals on the right and left. By 1990 he, more than anyone else, had ended the Cold War, and in 1991, after barely escaping from a coup attempt, he unintentionally presided over the collapse of the Soviet Union he had tried to save.

Plato's Republic

The Republic poses questions that endure: What is justice? What form of community fosters the best possible life for human beings? What is the nature and destiny of the soul? What form of education provides the best leaders for a good republic? What are the various forms of poetry and the other arts, and which ones should be fostered and which ones should be discouraged? How does knowing differ from believing?

Publisher's Summary

In 1831, Alexis de Tocqueville, a young French aristocrat and civil servant, made a nine-month journey through the eastern United States. The result was Democracy in America, a monumental study of the strengths and weaknesses of the nation’s evolving politics. Tocqueville looked to the flourishing democratic system in America as a possible model for post-revolutionary France, believing its egalitarian ideals reflected the spirit of the age - even that they were the will of God. His insightful work has become one of the most influential political texts ever written on America and an indispensable authority for anyone interested in the future of democracy.

I got this version, simply because I couldn't tolerate the one narrated by Frederick Davidson. This version is the original translation, by Henry Reeve, which was disliked and criticized by de Tocqueville. The Blackstone Audio version (narrated by Davidson), is of the George Lawrence translation (1966), which is generally more respected.

One thing that Reeve did in his translation, was in the sections where de Tocqueville quotes from English sources, he translated the French translation back into English - often changing the meaning - instead of inserting the original English sources. Lawrence, in his translation, included the original English sources, thereby preserving de Tocqueville's intent.

If it weren't for the horrible quality of both the Blackstone recording (excessive noise reduction, which removes all the consonants from the beginnings of words) and the Davidson narration (which is read with an annoyingly laconic, "landed gentry" delivery), I would have chosen the Lawrence translation over the Reeve. If there had been an available recording of either the Mansfield/Winthrop, or the Goldhammer translations, I would have picked one of them over this.

That said, John Pruden does an exceptional job of bringing this book to life. Even this imperfect translation was lauded as an important work in its own time, and it is easy to see why. De Tocqueville did an amazing job of assessing the American culture. His description of our unique brand of representative democracy clearly explains what set us apart from all other forms of democratic government at the time. His descriptions are so insightful, that much of what he wrote about the character of the American people (both the good and the bad), remains relevant to this day.

Until a more accurate (and listenable) translation becomes available at Audible, I would recommend this book to other listeners.

Everyone who wants to understand what America is, how it was created, and where its values came from must read or listen to this book. When written it was recognized as a work of amazing detail, analysis and genius. It still is.

What did you like best about this story?

The Author spent years traveling America, researching its forms of life, forms of government, cultural values, religions, the Indians, slavery, its economic life and after developing a wonderful understanding of the parts, he was able to synthesis all the parts into a rational explanation of why America burst onto the world stage as one of the greatest countries on the globe in just a few short years. America was an amazing phenomenon. It was not the only new country, or a country will resources, or educated people. Yet, in a few short decades after its successful revolution, it had already become the standard by which all other countries were judged as successful. Tocqueville wanted to know why, and to take the lessons learned in America back to France to help the French develop rational government after the chaos that was the French revolution. To sum it up, Tocqueville claimed "America was great because Americans were good." His analysis showed that the shared cultural values of Americans concerning liberty, responsibility, religion were so strong that they outweighed any other factor in developing a great Nation from scratch. He also showed that the democratic/republican tradition had developed in America for over 200 years starting from the lowest level, through the town, county, colony, and finally the National government. This understanding of the rules of self government was a part of the American culture and did not have to be imposed from the top or learned anew. Finally, he described America's internal conflict about slavery and predicted the civil war and its aftermath. Fascinating reading. This is as relevant today as ever, it should be mandatory reading for all American students.

Which scene was your favorite?

The discussion of the westward expansion and the subsequent interaction with the Indian nations was fascinating. I had never heard this description, and analysis, and it is right on the mark. I suppose that political correctness has limited this type of discussion today, but every American, and American Indian should read this analysis. Clear, dispassionate description of the inevitable westward expansion of Europeans. This class of cultures was not always, and maybe not usually violent. The Indian communities largely made a living by the "chase", or hunting. The European made his living by Agriculture, and needed land to settle. As the whites moved into a region, they would hunt the game out of the region for 200miles, so the game and the Indians were pushed ever westward. Attempts were made to fix the boundary of westward expansion, to include the Kind of England forbidding any settlement of lands that did not drain into the Atlantic. But, as settlers saw land that the Indians has abandoned, since the game was gone, they clamored farther westward. This started the whole cycle over again as the game was hunted out, and the Indians were forces westward for survival again. There were times were Indians sold their lands as they could not find enough game and needed to move west, and they would not or could not adapt to the agrarian forms of European life. Fascinating first hand research and analysis.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes, my reaction was "now I understand why we are the way we are" as a nation and as a people. As Issac Newton once states "we stand on the shoulders of great men", and we are all a part of our history, both our biological history encoded in our DNA and our cultural history encoded in our beliefs, values, laws and traditions.

Any additional comments?

Everyone should listen to this book. After listening to it I bought a copy so i could use it as a reference.

I'm really glad I gave this book a try. Having been disappointed by famous books like The Prince and the Art of War, I was a bit skeptical. But this turned out to be well worth the time and money. De Tocqueville had to have been one of the most brilliant people to ever live. It's fascinating to listen to his insights and see what things he got "wrong or right" about the future of America. This isn't just a book about 19th century, antebellum America, however. Much of De Tocqueville's thoughts are still useful as applied to America today.

As politically incorrect as it may seem to some, especially the readers of Zinn's revisionist propaganda, this book provides an unvarnished examination of America by an impartial Frenchmen during the time it was written and within that period's perspective. What a great way to explore history. A treasure to all real Americans of any color who wish to know and understand their nation.

This is a book for digestion, and a must read for any whom wish to be aware of the strengths, weaknesses, and despotic/statist/autocratic dangers inherent in an equal society under democratic rule of law.